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(No Modem D.v E. CROSBY. v STORE SERVICE PPARATUS. No. 321,343. Patented Jun@ 30, 1885..

n if 11215.51;

A IINITED STATES Partnr Ormea DARW'IN E. CROSBY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-NOR TO THE CONTINENTAL STORE SERVICE COMPANY, OE NEWr YORK, N. Y.

STORE-SERVICE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,343. dated June 30, 1885,

Applicaiion filed April 23, 1885.

To @ZZ whom zit may concern.-

Be it known that I, DARWIN E. CROSBY, a citizen oi' the United States, residing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Store-Service Apparatus, of which the following is a speciiieation.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in store-service systems, for the transmission of packages, money, 85e. Prior to my invention quite a number of improvements have been suggested, some relating to what is known in the art as the double inclined track system,77 and others to what is known as the singleftrack system. My present invention relates particularly to the latter, though it might be applied with advantage to the other.

In the singletrack system it has been customary to connect the end of the wire track over the sales-counter to the end of a castnietal frame or cage, the forward or outer end of which, adjacent to the track-connection, is provided with a pivoted lever or trigger, the free or moving end of which is in turn connected with a cord or rope running under a pulley on the rear of the carrier or elevator, thence up and over a pulley in a suitable bracket secured near the ceiling to the bracebar, this rope being counterbalanced in any suitable manner. As the parcel-carriage in its travel leaves the pivoted lever or trigger and rides onto the rope-connection referred to, the latter sags under the weight of the earriage and basket and forms a receiving-trap, which may be lowered to any desired or convenient depth to render the basket accessible to the sales-clerk. The carrier or elevator'in this class of devices is provided with another cord traveling over suitable pulleys, and by means of this cord the carrier or elevator and the end of the wire rail is elevated, so as to give a reverse incline to said rail, by pulling down on said cord, and when the proper elevation has been reached, the operator then pulls on the trap cord, which will bring the carriage and basket into proper alignment with the track, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. The class of devices which I have thus brieiiy referred to necessitates the employment of two operating-cords, and ren- (No model.)

ders the system somewhat complex in its construction and imperfect in its operation, owing to the fact that the operative sometimes pulls the trap-cord before the elevator has been raised to the height necessary to give proper inclination to the rail, and the carriage starts on its incline flight without sufficient momentum to travel the full length of the track. When this occurs, the operator begins to lower, 6o and raises again the end of the track and the elevator to start the car or carriage in motion, and in this effort the track is given a vibrat ing motion, which, by reason of its length, is such that the car is sometimes forcibly thrown 6 5 from the track. It has been suggested to overcome these dimculties by the employment of v only a single cord, which will first bring the car into proper alignment with the rail, and then lift the carrier or elevator up to the 7o proper altitude to give the desired incline to the track; but with this system I have discovered that, though the two results liowing from a continuous pull upon the one cord are presumed to be almost simultaneous, still in prac- 7 5 tice the car or carriage, having been brought into alignment first with the track, frequently starts off before the elevator has reached its full altitude, and hence the same difficulty is experienced as I have already referred to as So occurring when two cords are usede The object of my invention is to avoid the use of two cords, and while employing only a single operating-cord to overcome all the difiiculties referred to; and with this end in view my invention consists in the employment of a pulley at the rear end of the elevator, in connection with a vibrating or rocking frame provided with suitable arrangement of pulleys at each end, as will be hereinafter fully explained, s0 that the pull upon the cord will first take up the greater portion of the slack, but leaving sufficient to form a safe trap for holding the carriage, and then lift the elevator to its full height, after which the remainder of the slack will be taken up and the car given a suitable impulse in the direction of its desired line of travel by the vibrating or rock lever, the upper end of which is brought in contact with a suitable stop to produce the desired reroo suits.

In order that those skilled inthe art may know how to make and use my improvements,I will proceed to describe the construction and operation of the same, referring by lettersto the accompanying drawings, in which* Figure l is a side elevation of so much of the system at the end adjacent to the salescounter as is necessary to illustrate my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the elevatorand rocking lever.

Similar letters of reference denote like parts in both figures.

Arepresents the ordinary vertical stay-bar, upon which the elevator moves, and which serves to hold the wire track taut. B is the (levator-frame, connected at its forward end to the wire track C in the usual manner. The rear end of the elevator-frameis provided with the ordinary anti-friction wheels D, and the forward end is provided with the usual pivoted lever or trigger, E, to which is secured the trap-cord F.

Instead of the usual post on the elevatorframe in rear of the space for the trap, which it has been customary to provide with two pulleys, over and under which the cord renders,

I substitute a rocking lever or frame, G, which' is pivoted at Htc the elevatorframe, as shown, or to a suitable post, which may be substituted for those now in use. The pivoted point H forms the axis of a pulley, I. (See particularly Fig. 2.) At the forward or lower end of the frame G is arranged another pulley, J, and at the rear of the upper end an anti-fric tion roller, K. At the upper end of the staybar A, near the ceiling, is arranged a pulley-bracket, L, with a pulley, M, pivoted in its forward end in the usual manner. This bracket is, however, formed with any sort of a suitable projection or bumper, N, against which the upper and rear end of the frame G and its roller F may come in contact, for the purpose presently explained. The lower or forward end of the frame G is provided with a series of pivot-holes, l 2 3, as shown at Fig. 3, in order that the location of the pulley J may be varied in order that the results to be produced by the rocking of said frame may be accomplished with greater or less vibration of the same. The cord F passes up from a suitable take-up roll under the counter or from below the floor, thence over the pulley M in the bracket L, thence down behind and under the middle pulley, I, in the frame G, thence over and in front of the end pulley, J, and is secured to the end of the trigger or lever E. From this construction and arrangement it will be seen that when the car is returned from the cashier it will run from the track onto the trigger E and cord F, and by its own weight produce sufficient slack of the cord to form a receiving-trap, which may be distended and brought down within the convenient reach of the salesman by pulling down the car or slackening up of the cordFin the usual way. Now, when it is desired to send the car to the cashier, the operator pulls on the cord F, the first eect of which is to take up the slack in the wire rail more or less obtuse, according to the Y height of the moving end of the same. The continued strain or pull of the rope is then directly upon the pulley I in the frame G, and as the latter is secured to the frame B of the elevator the latter is lifted vertically into the position seen in dotted lines in Fig. l, or almost to its eXtreme height. 'Ihe latter point is reached by continued pull upon the cord, and simultaneous with the additional elevation of the elevator the upper and rear end of the rocking lever-frame G comes in contact with the under side of the bracket L, or any suitable bumper arranged thereon, and the anti-friction roller K serves to tilt the lever-frame Gin an obvious manner, and its lower end is caused to move up, and thus through the relation of the pulley J the trap portion of the cord has the rear lifted up, as clearly shown at X, and the car is started on its journey with a sufficient impulse, which is accelerated as it continues its fiight. It will thus be seen that with a single pull-cord I am enabled to provide a suitable retaining-trap to receive the car and present it conveniently to the salesman, and with the same cord I am enabled to lift the elevator to its proper altitude before releasing the car. I may of course vary the details of construction somewhat from those shown without departing from the spirit of my invention, the gist of which rests in the idea of arranging at some convenient point near the rear portion of the elevator-frame a tilting frame or lever .provided with suitable pulleys and rollers, as described, and produce the results set forth.

By reference to the drawings it will be seen that if the forward pulley, J, is pivoted at l it will require less vibration of the frame G to produce a given result than if the same were pivoted at 2 or 8, and, as already stated, I provide a series of holes for such adjustment of said pulley.

In the drawings accompanying this specification I have not shown any special device for taking up the cord F as it is pulled down from the pulley M, because any of the well known means canbe adopted or any novel construction could be employed without in any manner affecting disadvantageously the operation of my improved device. It will also be understood that, while I prefer to use the anti-friction roller K in the frame G, I may dispense with said roller and so bevel or curve the upper end of the frame as to accomplish the end desired. l

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a store-service system, in which the inclination of the wire track is governed by a vertically-moving frame, to which the end of the wire is fastened, and the car moves upon a cord or rope after leaving the main track IIO and is trapped thereon, a single rope connected `and arranged, substantially as described, and

operating te raise the frame and reeeive the ear from the main line and restore it thereto.

2. In a store-serviee system of the kind described, the elevator having Connected thereto the rope which serves both as a means of raising the frame and receiving the ear from the main track, and the lever whereby the end of the rope is elevated as the elevator reaches the desired altitude.

3. In astore-serviee system, in combination with the movable elevator B, the Wire track secured thereto, and the single operating-oord F and bumper N, the rocking lever or frame G, arranged upon the elevator behind the space occupied by the ear when at rest, and pro vided with suitable pulleys, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In combination with the stay-rod A, bracket L, having pulley M, elevator B, with trigger or lever E, and provided with the roel;- ing lever-fra1ne`G, having pulleys I J K,the single operating-oord F, arranged, as described,

to lift the elevator and elevate the rear of the 

